bankie, noun

Origin:
AfrikaansShow more Afrikaans, bank bench + diminutive suffix -ie.
1. A step-like rocky ledge; a terrace.
1882 J. Nixon Among Boers 265We drove down a steep hill, over a series of steps caused by horizontal strata of rocks cropping out in ledges across the face of the hill. The road wound down the steps, or ‘bankies’ as they were called.
1924 G. Baumann in Baumann & Bright Lost Republic (1940) 90Bruwer had gone a mile lower down, and adopted a beacon on a ‘bankie’ (small bank of earth) two feet high.
1967 W.A. De Klerk White Wines 22The high trellises..have yielded up to 21 tons to the morgen. We use weed-killers for the bankies.
2. A small bench or stool. Also attributive, and occasionally without dimunitive suffix as bank. See also riempiebank (riempie noun sense 2), and rusbank.
1959 J. Meiring Candle in Wind 39Martha Alberts sat on a bankie by the stove, staring at nothing.
1965 K. Thompson Richard’s Way 98There were a few small bankie stools clumped round the big fireplace beside an antique copper vat which held logs.
1971 Baraitser & Obholzer Cape Country Furn. 111In this particular case the bank as a whole is crude and it is difficult to know how old it is.
1980 F. Chisholm in Cape Times 9 Jan. 5The attentive audience sat spellbound on uncomfortable school bankies.
1980 Grocott’s Mail 26 Sept. 16 (advt)Dressing table, Riempie bankie, Electric stove, [etc.].
1988 D. Samuelson in Fair Lady 16 Mar. 137The old woman noticed that the child was watching her and beckoned her to come and sit on the bankie.
A step-like rocky ledge; a terrace.
A small bench or stool. Also attributive, and occasionally without dimunitive suffix as bank.
Entry Navigation

Visualise Quotations

Quotation summary

Senses

18821988